I wonder: what kind of format is easy to automate ? What makes configuration file difficult to "automate" is their multiple format (especially on unix), the fac

I wonder: what kind of format is easy to automate ? What makes configuration file difficult to "automate" is their multiple format (especially on unix), the fact that it is not easy to reload a configuration (most applications don't even allow it) and that there is no easy way to check that your configuration matches how the app is configured (especially for bad softwares). The format only helps for the first point.